Pages

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I don't want to ask... but...

My two days of work this week easily felt like 5. During what was probably the worst Monday in the history of Mondays a woman who is a complete and total stranger to me stops me and says, vis a vis, the following:

"I don't want to ask... but... are you pregnant?"

My response:

"Yep, thanks for asking."

First off, you don't want to ask? Then why did you? If you don't want to ask, don't. If you do want to ask, don't. Isn't that the rule? If you think someone might be pregnant, continue wondering until she is bursting at the seems and her water breaks in front of you, right?

I am wearing maternity clothes now and did have on a top with the signiture 'under the boobs tie'. However, I am early pregnant. My belly is small for the time being. I can tie my shoes, paint my toes, shave my legs. I have seen plenty of women on the street, including the one who asked the question she didn't want to ask, with larger bellies than mine and I'm quite certain they were not pregnant.

I have always wondered where strangers get their courage. I used to get emails from people, strangers, viewers, telling me they didn't like my earrings or that I look bigger on TV than in person (thanks very much you weird stalker). I wanted to write back and ask them if hiding behind an IP address made being mean easier. Instead I went with the signature "thanks for watching".

I know this woman wasn't being mean but what if I had said, 'nope, I'm not'. Maybe that's the question people should ask themselves before they ask if someone is pregnant. "If I ask if they're pregnant and they say no will I be able to disappear into dust before they punch me in the face?".